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Summary: Kaz, a criminal prodigy with a mysterious past, has quickly risen to the top of the criminal underbelly in the international trading hub Ketterdam. If you need the impossible done, he is the one you contact. And, an impossible, deadly heist is just what someone offers to pay him an unbelievable amount of money to commit. Kaz is up for the challenge so long as he can assemble the perfect crew. A perfect crew consisting of:

The agile spy whose ability to sneak into just the right spot has earned her the nickname the Wraith;

The sharpshooter with a gambling problem;

A privileged runaway demolitionist;

A Heartrender who has the magical ability to damage a person’s internal organs- from slowing a pulse to snatching the very breath from their lungs;

A former witch hunter and convict torn between the need for revenge and redemption; and

The criminal mastermind who earned the nickname “Dirtyhands” because no job is too despicable or bloody for him.

Oh, and one more thing… if the six fail it could have deadly consequences for everyone in the world.

Who will like this book?: This smart cross between heist and fantasy will appeal to fans of both genres. Bardugo alternates telling the story using five of the six main characters’ points-of-view, so you get more of a chance to understand each character’s motivation. That means fans of character driven stories will be equally satisfied with this tale.

If you like this, try this: Kristin Cashore’s Graceling series, Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch, The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

In celebration of the 200th post on RightBook, Nicole and Jen are thrilled to present something you might have wondered about – and that we are often asked about – our personal favorite teen books ever. Here are two lists (because we can’t stop at five picks each!) that are not ranked, but sort of grouped into our “all-time, can’t live without favorites” and our “but we really, really love these ones too!” lists. Enjoy, and feel free to share your own favorites in the comments.

*Please note: Some books may have mature themes and content*

Nicole and Jen’s Top Ten

Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (2008) – Fergus must decide whether to leave Northern Ireland for medical school in Scotland, or stay to support his family while his brother is imprisoned and on hunger strike. The history of the IRA is not familiar to many in the US, but this tale brings ‘The Troubles’ to vivid, terrible life. Ms. Dowd only published a few books before her death in 2007. Each is, in their own way, pitch-perfect. This one, mysterious and romantic, is the very best. – Nicole

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006) – It took a lot of prodding from other librarians before I picked this up but it remains an indispensable part of my reading history. Narrated by Death, it’s the story of an orphan who learns how to be a good person while the world is falling apart around her in WWII-era Germany. This story radiates with life and joy. Don’t wait as long as I did to read it! – Nicole

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (2012) – This is my ‘trapped on a deserted island and can only bring one book’ book. It’s historical fiction at its very best, taking a war we all learned about, weaving in historical tidbits we never knew, and gifting us with characters that define courage, loyalty, and true friendship. – Jen

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2008) – This was released around the same time as The Hunger Games. While many would say that series feature an iconic female heroine, I would like to introduce you to Katsa. In this start to an essential fantasy series, Ms. Cashore has created an intricate world where people with extraordinary abilities must decide whether to use their talents for good or for evil. Always hurling its characters forward into the unknown, many recent young adult series owe a debt here. – Nicole

Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (1998) – You may debate whether the first few in this series are Children’s or Young Adult, but there can be no debating the fact that this series changed the landscape for fantasy books and how the world views Young Adult literature. – Jen

The Hunger Gamesby Suzanne Collins (2008) – Yes, there was dystopian YA before Hunger Games. And, Lois Lowry’s The Giver and Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies series deserve huge praise for paving the way, but The Hunger Games is really the book that launched this widely popular genre. – Jen

Paper Towns by John Green (2008) – Oh, this book…After a night of pranks and petty crime, Margo disappears and Q is convinced that she wants him to find her. As sharply witty as all of Mr. Green’s books, this is about what it means to be ‘real,’ to live and love authentically. I read this cover to cover in one night and actually gasped out loud when I turned the last page and saw the words rushing to the end. – Nicole

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973) – “Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die.” Often quoted and much loved this 1973 tale was presented as an abridgment to The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern, a book that doesn’t actually exist. With that as a starting point, how can you not love a story that’s a comedy, an adventure, a fantasy, a romance, and a fairy tale all in one? – Jen

Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas (1996) – Every loser has a story. When we meet Steve, living in California, he is a stoner burnout in jeopardy of failing out of school. This is the story of who he was before, when he lived in Texas – smart, earnest, and deeply in love. I return to this book every few years and I am always profoundly moved by it. The cover makes sense once you finish it, I promise! – Nicole

Unwindby Neal Shusterman(2007) – Abortion, adoption, euthanasia, organ donation taken to the extreme…oh Neil Shusterman thank you for not underestimating the intelligence of the young adult population. Thank you for understanding that these are issues teens are ready to examine, understand, and debate. And, thank you for conceiving of this thought-provoking and utterly unique sci-fi thriller – Jen

More Favorites (we can’t help it!)

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King (2012) – A girl sends her love into the sky because she feels she has no use for it on the ground where she lives. This book is about finding your truth and fighting for it. I can’t think of another author I am as excited to watch in the coming years as Ms. King. – Nicole

Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2008) – Hands-down the best YA female protagonist in fantasy fiction. To even try to describe her awesomeness would be a mistake because one could never do her character justice. You simply must experience the book first hand, she’s just that great. – Jen (Nicole agrees…see above)

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch – I’m a fool for unreliable narrators, and rarely do you find one as fearsome as Keir. Of course, he’d tell you he’s a good guy. This should be required reading, paired with another, much more famous book I’ve selected for this list. – Nicole

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer(2006) –This is one of those rare books that never fails you when you recommend it to someone. The draw of it is that it takes a major worldwide catastrophic event and explores it from the point of view of one teen girl and her family. She’s not trying to save the world, but rather just survive and maintain a shred of hope. It’s a sci-fi book with a dose of reality that makes the reader wonder what he/she would do in this situation. – Jen

The Perks of Being Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999) – It’s been on the top 10 challenged books of the 21st century five times, but it’s also required reading in many high schools. There’s nothing like a controversial, yet extremely well-written book. It’s a book for anyone who has every felt like they just don’t fit in, which is probably just about everyone. – Jen

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (2010) – It seems like there are dystopian adventure stories being written for young people left and right these days. This environmentally-themed adventure is the best. That’s all. – Nicole

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (1999) – Before I knew I was going to be a Teen Librarian I worked as a bookseller and stumbled upon this book. The story of a young girl who chooses to mute herself rather than reveal her trauma, this book is simply essential, now more than ever. – Nicole

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (2005) – This was one of the first assigned readings I had in my YA lit class when I was getting my library science degree. I’d never read anything quite like Uglies. The combination of original storytelling, action, and interesting characters drew me into the YA section and I have never left. Westerfeld is a prime example of the fact that some of the most inventive storytelling is now being found in the YA section. – Jen

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley (2011) – The book I hand to adults who question the literary merit of young adult fiction. I wish I could read it again for the first time, the story was so powerful and its characters so indelibly real. I might have whooped aloud in my office when it won the Printz. – Nicole

OKAY! We just thought of some more favorites, looking at past things we’ve blogged, books we can’t bear to not see on this list, but we have to stop somewhere (for now!) Everything we’ve posted over the past several years is something we really liked so take a look. And always feel free to come see us at the Main or Woods Branch and we’ll be happy to share even more of our all-time books with you.

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Can’t decide what book to choose from the Middle School Summer Reading list? So many authors and genres to choose from! Here are our favorites from each listed genre, including Nutmeg and Newbery nominees and winners:

Disasters have transformed the world into a brutal society. Nailer works as a ship breaker in horrible conditions, until he finds a wrecked sailing boat. But other people are looking for the boat – and the girl who is found on it.

After a plane crash, thirteen-year-old Brian spends fifty-four days in the wilderness, learning to survive initially with only the aid of a hatchet given him by his mother, and learning also to survive his parents’ divorce.

After his anger erupts into violence, Cole, in order to avoid going to prison, agrees to participate in a sentencing alternative: he is sent to a remote Alaskan Island where an encounter with a huge Spirit Bear changes his life.

San moves to a new school and tries to impress a girl…by pretending to be a Zen master. Even though he is faking it he manages to inspire his classmates…but how long can he pretend to be something he is not?

In rural Indiana in 1904, fifteen-year-old Russell’s dreams of quitting school are disrupted when his older sister takes over the teaching at his one-room schoolhouse after mean old Myrt Arbuckle “hauls off and dies.”

Self-conscious about her knobby knees but confident in her acting ability, fourteen-year-old Tallulah spends the summer at a Yorkshire performing arts camp that, she is surprised to learn, is for girls only.

Seventeen-year-old Vince’s life is constantly complicated by the fact that he is the son of a powerful Mafia boss, a relationship that threatens to destroy his romance with the daughter of a FBI agent.

Oliver Watson has everyone convinced that he is extremely stupid and lazy, but he is actually a very wealthy, evil genius, and when he decides to run for seventh-grade class president, nothing will stand in his way.

When Cody enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many things seem strange, from the dark-haired, pale-skinned, supernaturally strong students to Charon, the wolf who guides him around campus on the first day.

Set in a future where kids can be unwound – separated into transplantable parts – three teens go on the run to avoid a grisly fate. Not for everyone, but a great choice for fans of intense, thought-provoking stories.

Darren Shan is just an ordinary boy. Then one day he stumbles across an invitation to visit a mysterious freak show called Cirque Du Freak. What follows is Darren’s horrifying descent into the dark and bloody world of vampires.

In order to save his daredevil brother Quinn (and himself), sensible, steady Blake must survive seven carnival rides before dawn. The catch is this is a carnival of the mind, and each ride preys upon one of Blake’s greatest fears.

Annie’s Uncle Marco goes on one of his mysterious trips, leaving her in charge of two sealed boxes on one condition: she must not open either one while he is away. But she is tempted…and soon she has unleashed the unspeakable.

For years, the spook Old Gregory has ridding local villages of evil. But who will take over for him? Apprentices have tried – some failed, some fled, some failed to stay alive. Only Thomas is left. He’s the last hope: the last apprentice.

Ender, a child genius, is removed from his family to begin his training in a harsh military school, where he is taught on exciting computer-simulated war games to lead the earth’s armies in space against alien forces

In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from an ugly into a pretty. But Tally’s friend Shay runs away. Tally must find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all.

Due to a freak asteroid collision, the moon is knocked a little off its axis and chaos on Earth erupts with unending natural disasters and radical weather shifts. Can a girl living in rural Pennsylvania and her family survive

Set in an alternate version of WWI Europe, this book traces the adventures of two intrepid teens: A royal hiding from enemies and a girl hiding as a boy in order to serve her country. Oh, and flying whale-ships. Whale-ships!

Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community. When Jonas turns 12 he is singled out to receive special training from The Giver. Now, it is time for Jonas to receive the truth. There is no turning back.

Seven days. Seven keys. Seven virtues. Seven sins. One mysterious house is the doorway to a very mysterious world – where one boy is about to venture and unlock a number of fantastical secrets. A great read for series fans who’ve read practically ‘everything’ already.

A quirky mystery for girls who daydream about saving the world. Annabeth meets a group of incredibly skilled (and odd) girls who she joins deep under the ground in New York City for a wild and weird adventure.

After an injury destroys Cody’s college hopes, he drops out of school and gets a job in his small Montana town. When his ex-girlfriend disappears from her Vermont boarding school, Cody travels to join the search.

Mattie gets a glimpse into the story of a young woman murdered near the resort she is working in. What she learns will help her decide her future: A life helping her widowed father and family or pursuing her dreams of college – a rare option for girls in 1910s upstate New York.

Claudia and her younger brother run away to New York City to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they live in the exhibits, hide from security and try to solve the mystery of a statue they find there.

As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s game show, “The $20,000 Pyramid,” a girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from a source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

As the Revolutionary War begins, Isabel wages her own fight for freedom. . When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion.

When 16-year-old Helmut Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he’s tried for treason.

Katie’s sister Lynn makes everything ‘kira kira,’ or shiny and glittering. When they move to Georgia in the 1950s, Lynn explains that people stare because they are Japanese. Through adversity and the heartbreak of Lynn’s cancer diagnosis, Katie tries to see the world through her sister’s eyes.

Spencer Morgan and Dieter Hedrick are on opposite sides but fighting for the same thing. Dieter’s devotion gets him promoted from Hitler Youth into the army while Spencre drops out of high school to begin training as a paratrooper.

Catherine arrives in England to marry Arthur, the eldest son of King Henry VII, but soon finds her expectations of a happy settled life radically changed when Arthur unexpectedly dies and her future becomes the subject of a bitter dispute between the kingdoms of England and Spain.

When his father is arrested as a debtor in 1849 London, John must take on unexpected responsibilities, from asking a distant relative for help to determining why people are spying on him and his family.

Mattie works with her family in a coffeehouse in the nation’s capital of Philadelphia when a yellow fever epidemic decimated the city. A powerful and surprising story about a lesser-known period in American history.

It is 1912. Tucker hates his new home in Maine – until he meets Lizzie, a girl who lives on a nearby island. When his neighbors plan to evict her people off the island, Tucker must decide how to help his friends.

Anaxndra calls on the protection of her goddess as she poses as two different princesses over the next six years, before ending up as a servant in the company of Helen and Paris as they make their way to Troy.

Jane would become Queen of England for only nine days before being beheaded at the age of sixteen. Here is a breathtaking story of English royalty with its pageantry, privilege, and surprising cruelty.

Three friends share good and bad times in Queens. Set in the span of months before Tupac Shakur’s death, this is a story about how people can have a big impact on your life, even if they aren’t around forever.

Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot function, relates his perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.

A boy working on a Victorian-era dirigible ship (check out the cover!) meets and intrepid young lady who is trying to prove that the flying creatures her grandfather discovered exist. Part pirate story, this is a great introduction to steampunk adventure.

Jacob and Will have looked out for each other, but when Jacob discovers a mirror that transports him to a world populated by witches, giants, and ogres, he keeps it to himself until Will follows him, with dire consequences.

Jack was eleven when the berserkers loomed out of the fog and nabbed him. The year is A.D. 793. In the next months, Jack and his little sister, Lucy, are enslaved by Olaf One-Brow and his fierce young shipmate, Thorgil. With a crow named Bold Heart for mysterious company, they are swept up into an adventure.

The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger’s apprentice. What he doesn’t yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom.

In the kingdom of Ayortha, who is the fairest of them all? Certainly not Aza. What she may lack in looks, though, she makes up for with a kind heart, and with something no one else has; a magical voice. Her talents captivate all who hear them, and in Ontio Castle they attract the attention of a handsome prince ndash; and a dangerous new queen.

In football, if a hit is legal but still injures your opponent, is it right or wrong? Miles is a talented player but sometimes being the best isn’t enough, especially if it means going against your conscience. Sometimes there really is more to life than football.

Young Toyo attends a boarding school in Japan where he gets a Western education and also receives traditional samurai training, which has a huge impact in his game and in his relationship with his dad.

Groomed by his father to be a star player, football is the only thing that has ever really mattered to Mick Johnson, who works hard for a spot on the varsity team his freshman year, then tries to hold onto his edge by using steroids, despite the consequences to his health and social life.

Even though his mother feels baseball ruined her marriage to his father, she allows fourteen-year-old Brian to become a bat boy for the Detroit Tigers, who have just drafted his favorite player back onto the team.

After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game.

Phineas, a railroad construction foreman, was blasting rock when a thirteen-pound iron rod was shot through his brain. Miraculously, he survived for another eleven years. Phineas seemed to completely recover, but his personality was radically changed. This book will tell you a lot about how your brain works and how you act human.

The true stories from Paulsen’s life that inspired his famous Hatchet series – wilderness survival, moose attacks, plane crashes and time spent in the army. A great choice for guys who’d rather be outside than inside.

A unique way to learn about life in the medieval era: A collection of short one-person monologues featuring teenaged characters, rich and poor, who describe what their lives are like surviving in or near a thirteenth-century English manor.

Step right up! Meet the astounding . . . the amazing . . . P. T. Barnum! This showman, founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and Bridgeport resident lived an incredible life. Learn about his rise to fame, his most famous performers and the impact he had on entertainment and culture.

A Wicked History biography series

These entertaining and informative short biographies ask you to consider the wickedness of many hated figures from history – some you have heard of (Henry VIII of England) and others who you might not have (Cixi, Empress of China). Learn the reasons why these people were so hated and what might have driven them to such bad deeds.

*=Books for more mature readers

Interested in selecting any of these books for your summer reading? You can find them at the Fairfield Public Library and Fairfield Woods Branch Library: Just click on any title to see if they are in the library!